Staff Reporter
Guwahati: In a bid to protect and support migrant workers from Assam who are working in other states, the Labour Department will soon come out with a portal where all their details will be recorded. Migrant workers of the state face various challenges like exploitation, discrimination, vulnerability, accidents, etc.
Lakhs of migrant workers go out to work in different sectors, mainly unorganized ones. During the Covid pandemic, around 4.26 lakh workers returned to Assam from other states, indicating the huge number of workers that leave the state to earn their livelihood in other states. However, there was no specific study conducted to understand the plight of such workers.
Labour Department sources said that when workers leave the state to work outside, they do not inform the Labour Department or any other authority; they leave on their own. But when they face any problems, they or their families approach the government for assistance. This is why the government does not have an exact figure on the number of such workers. So, the department has decided to launch a portal where information like their place of work, the state or district where they are living at present, the details of their employer, etc. will be recorded, and this will help the state government to extend any help or support when they face certain challenges.
Sources further said that a section of the youths are ashamed to take on certain jobs in the state, but they don’t hesitate to work as waiters in hotels, security personnel in industries, manual workers in factories, and others. Better job prospects, higher salaries, and facilities in other states attract another section of workers.
The workers leaving for other states create a vacuum in their own state, and the jobs they decline to do are done by ‘unknown faces’. It is also seen that organizations like AASU and others do not create a work culture or stress the dignity of labour, encouraging young people to take up jobs here. That is why certain kinds of jobs in the grassroots economy are now in the hands of ‘unknowns’.
A ray of hope has now emerged from popular artist Manash Robin, who is providing a platform named “Robin Army,” where training for different jobs like carpenter, plumber, beautician, electrician, and homecare provider is given to indigenous youths. Those requiring such services just need to contact the ‘Robin Army’, and the service will be made available. If Manash Robin can provide such a platform, what keeps organizations like AASU, AJYCP, TAYPA, Bir Lachit Sena and others from doing the same?
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